Making ordinary beautiful

Tag: on a budget

I love the mid century modern style and I had my eyes on this writing desk from target. This desk is on the cheaper side, but at $169.99 this was not even an option for me. Naturally, I found a way to make a similar desk (with no drawer) for around $35.

The $35 table I made and the $169.99 Target Table

As many of your probably know, you can buy table tops from Ikea for a very reasonable price. I got this white 39 3/8×23 5/8 “table top for $8.99. Ikea sells table legs, but I did not like the style of the table legs there, so I started searching for other options.

I found these 27.5″ tappered table legs for $3.63 each at Lowes. To attach the table legs to the table, you need a table leg top plate. I wanted the table legs to be angled, so I got these angled plates at Lowes for $1.98 each.

The table legs were unfinished, so I stained them with an oak wood stain. The legs feet were originally silver so I spray painted the feet with the same pink-gold spray paint I used on my DIY pegboard.

The great thing about these table legs is that they screw right into the table plates. You can assemble and dissemble easily which makes story and moving simple.

Guess what, that’s it. This was very simple and cost a fraction of what I would have paid anywhere else.

Moving into my new apartment, I needed to minimize clutter and with it the feeling that all my things reside in the 8X10 room I live in (which they do). With my loft ceilings, I have a lot of wall space and hanging shelves seemed like the way to go.

Urban Outfitters Shelf

… has anyone been in the market for wall shelves? They are SO expensive. For instance, this one little 18″ Peaks Shelf from Urban outfitters is on sale for $59. I would definitely need more than one, which is the graduate school equivalent too much money.

I looked at a lot of different options, but a children’s book (Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room) I used to have gave me the idea to put up a peg board. This was super easy and ended up costing around $30 total.

What you need

Instructions

The pegboards at Lowes come in white and brown, but you can easily paint them any color. Also, a great tip is that most hardware stores do curtesy cuts. The board I got was 4X4 but I needed 3X4 so they cut it down to size a no extra cost (and I have a bonus 1×4 pegboard for a future project).

There are a lot of different ways to get the pegs for your pegboard, but I just went for the (easy) option of buying an assorted kit. All the pieces were steel, so I decided to spraypaint them a pinkish gold color.

Assorted pegboard hooks

Next, I hit up the Target dollar bins, or as I like to call them, trouble. I was able to find some really inexpensive metal mesh locker containers in neon colors. I brought them in line with my color scheme by spraying them with the same paint I used on the pegs. There were a few that were a pale pink, which I decided to leave for a pop of color.

Locker mesh containers being spray painted

After the paint dried, I poked a hole just big enough to hang them on a hook. These made great storage containers for my art supplies, journals, and books.

After that, it was easy. The pegboard hook came with screws to attach the pegboard to the wall. Make sure that you put the rubber spacers on the screw between the peg board and the wall so that there is space to insert the hooks.

I was able to jazz up my pegboard by hooking a lightbulb from a longer hook so I could have light right above my workspace, and added three pails with succulents, cactus, and greenery for a fresh, happy feeling. I love that this ‘hides’ all my clutter in plain sight! With a pegboard, you can get creative and personalize it, making it a feature wall! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

This last spring, fresh herbs and fresh flowers were needed on the balcony of my apartment. This 5′ X 6′ space was not big enough for a horizontal garden, so I decided to use the wooden pallet I already had to build a vertical garden.

Most of the work was done at night, so many apologies for the bad photo quality.

What you need

Heat Treated symbol

Wooden Pallet- Make sure that it is heat treated to know it hasn’t been treated with pesticides

Instructions

Start by removing every other wood plank on one side using a hammer. This helps define the garden boxes and allows for more sunlight. Depending on the wooden pallet, you may need to remove more or less panels.

*I did not paint the pallet at this point, but I would recommend doing it now so you don’t have to paint around the landscaping fabric. Since my memory fails me, using chalkboard paint on the front panels allowed me to write what I had planted in each box.

Double the the landscaping fabric over and use it to create pockets in between the front and back panels. These pockets will be your individual flower boxes. Staple around the top edges using your staple gun. Landscaping fabric will allow the roots to breathe and let extra water drain off without the soil and plants coming through.

I painted the pallet at this point, but if you already have you’re ready to move on.

Line the bottom of each flower box with crumpled or shredded newspaper to prevent root rot. Cover the news paper with potting soil and Voila, your garden is ready to be planted.

*Confession… I started my seedlings inside, replanted them in my pallet garden, and then proceeded to travel to Africa for 3 weeks, over which time all my plants died. That’s why there is no picture of a luscious green garden in my vertical garden.